1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to print instruction apparatus and a print instruction method, and particularly relates to print instruction apparatus and a print instruction method for giving instructions to printing apparatus such as a printer while setting print conditions for printing print data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, when printing is performed by printing apparatus such as a printer, print data is normally transmitted from host apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) connected to the printing apparatus through a printer driver belonging to the host apparatus. In this case, for example, when a user gives an instruction to print print data made up by a desired application on the host apparatus side, a printer driver corresponding to a printer desired to output therefrom by the user is called, and the print data is converted into a predetermined control code such as a PDL (Page Description Language) that can be interpreted by the printer, so that the print data is outputted to the printer. In addition, through the printer driver, the user can specify print conditions for the print data, such as the paper size, the number of sheets to be outputted, the number of copies, double-sided/single-sided printing, and the existence of sorting. Thus, the print data can be outputted in a desired format.
According to a UI (User Interface) screen for setting print conditions in the printer driver as mentioned above, the print conditions are normally set on a screen selected from a plurality of screens through tabs or the like. However, it is very difficult to know where a setting part for setting a desired function on the UI screen is located on the UI screen of the printer driver. In addition, the configuration of the UI screen of a printer driver by one printer maker differs from that by another printer maker. It will be therefore more difficult to know where the setting part is located if the user operates a printer driver not used usually by the user. Further, when a related-art printer driver used in a PC or the like is applied directly to a portable telephone set or a portable terminal unit such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) unit, the display screen of the portable telephone set or the portable terminal unit is so small in comparison with that of the PC, that the UI screen of the printer driver cannot be displayed entirely and properly in the display screen area. Thus, the user-friendliness may deteriorate remarkably. It can be therefore conceived that the screen is divided into more component screens than in the printer driver for PC so that the display can be attained even in a portable telephone set or a portable terminal unit. However, the component screens are so many that the user-friendliness deteriorates remarkably also in this case.
In consideration of such a situation, the present inventor proposed printing apparatus, a print instruction method and print instruction apparatus in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-053218, which can be applied not only to the case that a print instruction is issued from a PC but also to the case that a print instruction is issued from a portable telephone set or a portable terminal unit having a small display screen, and which is provided with a folder type printer UI superior in user-friendliness. According to this invention, when a print instruction of print data is issued, a desired combination of print setting folders for setting a plurality of print condition items hierarchically in advance is specified hierarchically by operating a file of the print data. Thus, the print conditions of the print data are established.
As a result, the user can give print instructions with various conditions to the printer without installing any dedicated printer driver or any application software. In addition, unlike the UI screen in an ordinary printer driver, the user does not have to change over from one screen to another screen through a plurality of tabs to look for a part for setting print conditions desired by the user. Thus, even a user making an operation for the first time can issue a print instruction easily. Further, by selecting a print setting folder in the undermost tier, and dragging and dropping an icon of print data into the selected folder, the print data and the information of the print conditions set thus can be transmitted from the print instruction apparatus to the printing apparatus. Thus, the user-friendliness for print instructions is improved.
However, according to the print instruction apparatus and the print instruction method in the related art, the user cannot confirm the execution status of a print instruction issued by the user, or the user cannot make an operation about an ongoing job, a ready job, a finished job, etc. For example, when the user moves or copies print data to a print setting folder so as to issue a print instruction, the user cannot grasp the print status until the user sees the contents on paper outputted by execution of printing. Thus, the user has no way to know how many jobs have been transmitted to the printer or what number a transmitted job will be processed.
In addition, it is indeed supposed to print data that an upper terminal unit cannot deal with (data whose contents cannot be confirmed), but an image of the printing result of such data cannot be given to the user. Further, since the history of finished print jobs cannot be confirmed, correct information as to whether printing a document instructed to print by the user is finished or not cannot be told to the user. In addition, when data transmitted once is to be printed again, it is necessary to send the data again.